Hargeisa, Somaliland – In a significant crackdown against the illegal pharmaceutical practice, Hargeisa police arrested four Yemeni nationals suspected of processing and selling counterfeit medicines. The suspects were arrested during a special operation in one of Hargeisa’s neighborhoods when they were caught red-handed repackaging expired medicines for resale.
Those accused of having dealt in expired medicines were said to obtain spent medicines, repackaged them in empty cartons imported from China, and forged expiry dates so as to evade scrutiny and possibly mislead unwitting customers.
Colonel Ahmed Said, Officer Commanding Eastern Division of Hargeisa, confirmed the arrest and gave details of the operation, stating: “We caught these persons repackaging expired medicines into new cartons along with counterfeit expiry dates.”
Mohamed Calmi Yasin, an officer with the Hargeisa police, reported that five cartons of expired medicines, with various equipment, including computers and certificates that were presumably used for counterfeiting medicines and medicines for their illegal activities, were confiscated during the operation. He added that the suspects have been kept under surveillance for several days before being arrested.
Osman Aden-the mayor of the Gacan Libaax district-said that the repackaged cartons of the medicines had landed on Hargeisa airport just about two days before. These cartons were meant to be purportedly genuine and fresh medicines, imported from China, to be marketed within the region.
Ahmed Mohamed Cadad, governor of Maroodi-jeex region, was concerned on the public health safety with medicinal counterfeits. He explained that the men arrested had purchased cartons for $9,000-and they have been doing this by procuring expired medicines from different pharmacies. The group had been taking off the original labels and re-packaging the medicines with false expiry dates to hoodwink consumers.
This arrest arrives while concerns are rising on the quality of imported medicines in Somaliland, creating health challenges in the public because of fake products. Hargeisa police have assured to keep on investigating the counterfeit medicine operation and that they would follow through on further necessary enforcement actions to counter illegal practices in the pharmaceutical sector.
The suspects will be charged in court and the local authorities warned that further similar operations would be monitored so that public health and consumer safety in the region would be maintained.